‘It Will Be Too Late’: Groups Appeal Judge’s Ruling Refusing to Stop IRS from Sharing Taxpayer Data with DHS, ICE
The agreement would allow immigration enforcement to get taxpayer names and addresses
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In its continued fight to protect private taxpayer data, today, Public Citizen filed an appeal of the U.S. District Court’s denial of a preliminary injunction to halt implementation of a data-sharing agreement between the Internal Revenue Services (IRS), Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigrant and Customs Enforcement (ICE), while the case proceeds. Plaintiffs sought the preliminary injunction to protect immigrant taxpayers because once the information is shared, it will be too late to undo the damage.
In a lawsuit filed by Public Citizen Litigation Group, Alan Morrison and Raise the Floor Alliance against Trump Administration officials to stop the IRS from disclosing tax return information to immigration enforcement authorities, a federal judge declined to put a temporary halt on a data-sharing agreement that would allow ICE to obtain taxpayer name and address information from IRS records. Plaintiffs fear that once the IRS shares information with ICE, the information will be used to locate immigrants for removal.
Defendants in the case are Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Acting IRS Commissioner Melanie Krauss, the Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons. Plaintiffs in the case are Centro de Trabajadores Unidos, Immigrant Solidarity Dupage, Inclusive Action for the City and Somos Un Pueblo Unido.
“The court has set clear boundaries that, under the IRS, DHS and ICE agreement, immigration enforcement cannot get access to individual taxpayer identification numbers (ITINs) to target undocumented people for civil cases such as deportations,” said Public Citizen Attorney Nandan Joshi, who is the lead attorney in the case. “But the agreement permits the IRS to disclose taxpayer address information based on nothing more than ICE’s say-so that the information will be used to prosecute crimes, raising significant concerns of unauthorized use of immigrant taxpayer data. And if private data is transferred en masse, it will be too late to protect taxpayer privacy.”
“Today, our appeal to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals highlights the peril of the Trump administration’s irresponsible and dangerous plan to hijack the IRS for immigration policing and the need to prevent irreparable harm to our communities,” said Kevin Herrera, Legal Director of Raise the Floor Alliance. “ITIN filers do their civic duty, and they help our government afford Social Security and Medicare, believing a longstanding promise that tax information is private. Now, DHS and IRS are scaring people away from ever filing taxes again. While the case plays out, we call on the IRS to refrain from any information-sharing under this agreement. We will have our day in court to interrogate this plan’s legality and whether it proceeds should be left to the D.C. Circuit.”
“With this appeal, we’re continuing our fight to stop an illegal data breach that would put private tax records in the hands of ICE agents,” said Rudy Espinoza, CEO, Inclusive Action for the City. “If allowed, this would be catastrophic: it would ensnare hardworking immigrants in the administration’s deportation machine, and destroy the integrity of the nation’s tax system and the backbone of our economy. These illegal actions threaten us all – and they must be stopped before it’s too late.”
“Immigrant taxpayers play a vital role in sustaining the health of our country’s national, state and local economies not just by completing federal and state taxes, but by spending our wages in the communities where we live and work. Immigrant workers help sustain essential services such as education, health care and roads through our jobs and the taxes we pay,” said Marcela Diaz, the executive director of Somos un Pueblo Unido, a New Mexico-based immigrants’ rights organization. “Yet, by requiring all arms of the federal government to engage in immigration enforcement, even when it is not the agency’s mandate, this administration will hurt immigrants and non-immigrants alike and weaken this country’s economic strength and vitality. For all these reasons, an appeal is necessary.”
The documents from the case can be found here. For additional information on the case check out our latest fact sheet here. To request an interview with the litigation team or our plaintiffs, contact Katie Garcia, kgarcia@citizen.org.